XE variant of COVID-19 will be most contagious: WHO

New Delhi, Apr 02: The World Health Organisation has said that a new mutant of COVID-19 known as XE appears to be ten per cent more transmission that the Omicron variant.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was the most contagious strain of COVID-19. The Omicron variant now spreading to different regions of the world is accounting for a majority of the new cases in US.

The XE variant is a mutant hybrid of the two versions of Omicron-BA.1 and BA.2. Currently the new variant is found in very few regions. The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the UK on January 19 and less than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since, WHO said in a report.

"Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 percent as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation," WHO also added. The full WHO report can be read here: